The Most Emotional Songs About War And Anti-War Songs
War is something most of us don’t want to think about, but it’s an emotional topic in which we can identify with the people who suffer, and feel sympathy, empathy, and a lot of compassion.
In this page, I collected some of the best war songs from recent decades. Please let me know if you think I missed a great war song that should be on this list. Here are the songs I chose in no particular order.
Fortunate Son by Creedence Clearwater Revival
This is a classic anti-war song. It’s angry in the right way because it points out unfair treatment of the rich and the poor. This isn’t necessarily considered a poetic song, but I think it is because it conveys its message in one single vivid line: “I ain’t no senator’s son.” That paints a picture of the reality of how people get treated, and who gets to live and who goes off to die.
Civil War Song: When Johnny Comes Marching Home
This is a US Civil War era song, but it still inspires great bravado and emotion. It’s a classic for a reason. It has great inspiring energy without glorifying war. It’s not as anti-war as some of the more modern songs, but when I listen to it, while I do hear references about celebrating the coming home of soldiers, I also sense the awareness of their sacrifice. This to me isn’t a Civil War song that glorifies war. I interpret it as a little more solemn than it sounds.
Who By Fire by Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen is one of the best poet singer-songwriters, and some of his rich poetry comes through in the main metaphor of this song highlighting how we have no idea how we’ll die, whether it’s by fire, water, or out own follies. This song was written during the Yom Kippur war when Leonard Cohen traveled to Israel to sing to soldiers going off to battle.
My More Intense Cover Of Who By Fire
I love this song so much that I made my own cover of it. Please humor me for including my own cover of this song. Here is my version:
The Partisan by Leonard Cohen
This is a very poetic song. The imagery in this song is extremely vivid. Here is an example of a line from the song: “There were three of us this morning. I’m the only one this evening, but I will go on.”
Also “a woman gave us shelter…then the soldiers came. She died without a whisper.”
It’s a song that inspires you by the bravery of people resisting evil, while also crying for all the sacrifices and lives lost.
Civil War by Guns N’ Roses
This is an intense and inspiring song featuring powerful lyrics like “I don’t need your civil war. It feeds the rich while you bury the poor.” Yes, that’s direct, and while it’s debatable who gets rich, it’s a fact that most of the dead are not only poor, but also very young.
Brothers In Arms by Dire Straits
This song has a tempo that feels almost too slow, but it really works. The slow feel actually creates a mournful and emotional setting for this song to reminisce about our brothers in arms. Then I wake up from my daydream and realize that I personally can’t relate since I don’t have my own brothers in arms since I’ve never taken up arms. And that is how you know that the song made you sympathetic and empathetic.
Zombie by The Cranberries
The zombie reference in this song is about soldiers and law enforcement who just follow blindly without thinking. Their actions often lead to deaths of innocent civilians.
Farewell Cadets by Bulat Okudzhava
The original of this poetic war song is in Russian, but I translated it to English, I am a big fan of Bulat’s poetry. It’s sincere, and full of rich imagery and metaphors.
The Trooper by Iron Maiden
This song is about the charge of the light brigade by British soldiers during the Crimean War at the battle of Balaclava. The musical masterpiece of this song is that it has so much energy that it actually sounds like the a charge by horse-mounted troops!
